In the spotlight

Local schools’ recycling project draws national attention

Students from Mater Dei Academy in Wickliffe and Euclid’s Our Lady of the Lake are participating with city improvement groups Keep Wickliffe Beautiful and Keep Euclid Beautiful in a “buddy bench” project.

The effort encourages the schools’ students to collect #5 plastic bottle caps and lids in order to be recycled and turned into a “buddy bench.”

The benches are placed in schoolyards and students who sit on them are indicating that they would like to talk or play with other students. This encourages positive child interaction while offering an outlet to otherwise introverted students that may otherwise experience feelings of alienation or isolation.

The buddy bench already in service at Wickliffe Elementary was credited to Diane Wieland who was the school’s principal at the time. Despite spearheading the project, Wieland fell ill and died before the bench was able to be installed. The school has since dedicated their existing bench in her memory.

The current project came from the suggestion of Carol Maruszak, a Wickliffe resident and employee of Euclid’s BWX Technologies. The company will be working with Keep Euclid Beautiful to donate a buddy bench to Euclid’s Our Lady of the Lake school. Similarly, Ganley Subaru will be partnering with Keep Wickliffe Beautiful to donate a bench to Wickliffe’s Mater Dei Academy.

The project will also be featured in a NBCUniversal television commercial which will be filmed at Mater Dei on March 19. The advertisement will highlight the project’s community outreach and environmental aspects before being broadcast to a national audience.

Students from Our Lady of the Lake and Mater Dei are encouraged to collect #5 bottle caps and container lids in order to be recycled into buddy benches. They will need to collect 200 pounds to produce enough material to manufacture a bench. The collection drive runs from through April 18.

The buddy benches will be presented on May 3 to Mater Dei and Our Lady of the Lake at 9:30 a.m and 1 p.m., respectively. The presentations are to coincide with an Arbor Day tree planting occurring the same day.